Top 100 Agencies 2014: Dudnyk

Dudnyk president Frank Powers reports that last year was one of the best years in the Horsham, PA-headquartered agency's 21-year history. Revenue was up 20%, and Powers expects this year to track up in the 25% to 30% range.

“It was an outstanding year,” he says. “We won six new AOR clients, which led to eight new brand assignments. Cubist Pharmaceuticals was a true highlight. We won the pitch for a new anti-infective launch brand, and they liked our strategic approach in the anti-infective marketplace so much they also awarded us AOR status on their megabrand Cubicin. It was truly a great win and helped transform what was already a solid year into a remarkable one.”

Other AOR wins came in from Echo Therapeutics for a diabetes device, Zimmer Surgical for two products, and Dentsply Midwest for a line of drills. NDC, which manufactures Nitinol materials and works with device companies to engineer and create various devices, named Dudnyk AOR for the entire company.

Powers is also excited about an AOR assignment from Ikaria on a potentially lifesaving pharma product/device hybrid for kids in neonatal ICU, and a digital AOR win on a device launch from Myoscience.

The agency invested significant time and resources last year creating historical case studies that not only illustrate Dudnyk's outstanding creative portfolio, but the strategic “Incite” process behind the work. Powers says these case studies have been invaluable in the new business process.

“We're very clear about who we are, what we're good at, describe it incredibly well, and provide examples,” explains Christopher Tobias, PhD, EVP, the agency's chief scientific officer and director of business development. “If that doesn't align with new business opportunities, then we're not the right agency. From early on it needs to be the right fit. Winning new business is immensely competitive, but carefully qualifying the opportunity puts us in the best position to succeed.”

There were no losses last year, say execs, but digital project work on Allergan's Botox wrapped up.

Five new employees joined in 2013, bringing the total across the Horsham and San Francisco offices to 78. There are about 80 as of this writing. Joining this year were Heather Aton, chief innovation officer, and Lou Iovino, SVP, director of client service.

Last year, Drew Desjardins was promoted to chief strategy officer, and Kathie Carnes, formerly of The Hal Lewis Group, came aboard as VP of human resources. This year, veterans John Kemble and Laurie Bartolomeo were both named SVP, creative director.

“Finding talented staff is always a top priority, and it was the toughest challenge we faced in the past five years,” Powers says. “Kathie Carnes has been a game changer for us. She's been in the Philadelphia and New Jersey HR community for over a decade, so finding great talent was not as big of a pain point as in the past.”

As industry focus continues to shift to specialty biopharma products, orphan diseases, and small patient populations, Dudnyk's deep expertise in marketing to specialty HCPs has positioned it well to continue to grow.

“Our positioning, creative product, process and ­talent are all as strong as they have been in our 21 years,” Powers says. “We are going to continually invest in our people to ensure that we scale the quality of our work with the growth of our organization.”

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